Precautions Against Medical Tourism Dangers

The Health Vacation Alternative

Romeo DeGuzman, a Filipino born resident of Orange Park had plans to visit his home country on vacation.  Troubled with an ophthalmic complaint, DeGuzman decided to combine holiday time with a much needed laser eye surgery, thus joining the ever increasing numbers of people worldwide who choose what’s referred to as a “health vacation.”  The Philippines is home to some of the best hospitals for eye care in the world.  DeGuzman’s experience took place more than a decade ago when such medical travel to the developing world was largely uncommon. Today, however, the numbers are increasing with the most favored health vacation destinations of the world being the Philippines, India, Thailand, Malaysia, and Brazil.  All these medical tourism and health vacation countries have some of the best hospitals for eye care in the world.   

Medical Tourism Dangers

While traveling to foreign countries for medical procedures at a fraction of the cost may seem enticing, it helps to be aware of some very real medical tourism dangers including those that exist in some of best hospitals for eye care in the world.  The success of your health vacation will depend entirely on the competence of your doctors and the quality of healthcare available.  DeGuzman was careful on his health vacation.  He thoroughly investigated a number of doctors before settling on a veteran US qualified surgeon.  Even then, not everything went according to plan. The doctor initially prescribed two medications that should not be mixed.  Nonetheless the surgery was successful. 

Health Vacation: Points to Remember

Many countries do not punish inferior doctors.  Sometimes sanitation can be an issue. For instance, American surgeons wear plastic shoe wrappers, whereas DeGuzman's doctor wore slippers.  Doctors may also be complacent since there is no legal recourse available to patients in case of a botched operation. Language barriers can also be a major hurdle. As a worst-case scenario if a patient dies while on a health vacation, transporting the body back to the home country can be very expensive. 

The Other Side of a Health Vacation

DeGuzman paid $1,500 for a procedure that would have cost $4,000 in the US and his story had a happy ending.  The important point to note here is that he was fluent in the Filipino language and that was a major advantage. While most doctors and hospitals do provide translators, meanings could be lost in a maze of local dialects.  For instance, a young Hispanic collapsed after complaining that he was “intoxicado,” which means "nauseated."  But it was wrongly interpreted as “intoxicated.”  By the time doctors realized the error it was too late; the patient suffered a brain aneurysm and became quadriplegic.  DeGuzman says he may go to the Philippines in case he needs eye surgery again.  But a few months ago, he had a quintuple bypass heart surgery at St. Vincent's Medical Center in Jacksonville instead of going overseas. 

Source: "MEDICAL TOURISM: Let buyer beware,” Jacksonville, January 12, 2007